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New Member
posted Jun 1, 2019 9:33:11 AM

I am entering expenses and setting up for a new truck driving business. Where do I enter a truck and trailer?

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3 Replies
New Member
Jun 1, 2019 9:33:12 AM

The tractor and trailer, by IRS rule, have a 3 - 5 year useful life. As you are starting a new business and it will take time for income to increase, you will want to depreciate it over 5 years.

Entering your information in TurboTax, treat it as a business asset, so the depreciation calculations are activated. You may select the appropriate options for special depreciation or Sec. 179, but I would suggest that you do not speed up depreciation, to keep your expenses in line with your income.

Create separate assets for the tractor and the trailer. You are presented with four asset-type choices, none of which appear to describe your tractor, but select "trailers," which will set the appropriate 5 year useful life. The default in TurboTax is set to the 200DB depreciation method, with a mid-quarter convention, which is perfect for your circumstances. This will leave most of the value to be depreciated in the following years, when you will be using the tractor to create more income.

Level 1
May 23, 2020 4:39:53 PM

Which asset types in Turbo Tax can be used for a Food Truck trailer.  The trailer is hitched to the truck which I treated as a vehicle.

Level 15
May 23, 2020 5:43:35 PM

The vehicle is entered in the VEHICLE section and the trailer in the ASSETS section.